(aka 1933
Chicago World's Fair) a commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Chicago

Held from May 27 to November 1, 1933
and May 16 to October 31, 1934, this was the
second world's fair hosted by Chicago,
the first being the World's
Columbian Exposition, in 1893.The
fair's motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies,
Man Conforms," and its theme was to "attempt to
demonstrate to an international audience the nature and
significance of scientific discoveries, the methods of
achieving them, and the changes which their application
has wrought in industry and in living conditions."
This was done through exhibits that appealed to the
public in general, often with miniaturized or replicated
processes.

poster advertising the 1933 Chicago
World's Fair

History

A Century of Progress was organized as a
not-for-profit Illinois corporation on January 5, 1928,
having as its charter purpose, "the holding of a
World's Fair in Chicago in the year 1933." To pay
for the fair, a $10 million bond issue of Gold Notes was
authorized on October 28, 1929, the day before
"Black Tuesday," the stock market crash that
marked the beginning of the Depression. Another $171,400
was raised by the sale of Founder and Sustaining
Memberships, at $1,000 and $50, respectively. A further
$637,754 was raised in the sale of Legion Memberships to
the general public. For five dollars, one could purchase
a certificate of membership, which could be exchanged for
ten admissions once the fair opened.

The fair's opening night began with a nod to the
heavens. Lights were automatically activated when the
rays of the star Arcturus were detected. The star was
chosen as its light had started its journey at about the
time of the previous Chicago world's fair. The rays were
focused on photoelectric cells in a series of
astronomical observatories and then transformed into
electrical energy, which was then transmitted to Chicago.

When the Century of Progress Exposition opened,
numerous buildings and exhibits drove home the message
that cooperation between science, business, and
government could pave the way to a better future. With
the Hall of Science serving as the cornerstone, nearly
two dozen corporations, contrasted with only nine at the
1893 fair, erected their own pavilions and developed
displays that insisted that Americans needed to spend
money and modernize everything from their houses to their
cars. Several model homes, including George Keck's House
of Tomorrow, featured synthetic building materials and
forecast a future where dishwashers and air conditioning
would be commonplace household items.

President
Franklin D. Roosevelt was so taken with the power of
the fair to stimulate spending on consumer durable goods
that he urged the exposition organization to reopen the
fair in 1934, which it did. Roosevelt was not alone in
his enthusiasm. Henry
Ford, who had insisted that his company not
participate in the 1933 fair, switched gears after seeing
the publicity that rival General Motors had generated for
its products through its working model of a G.M. assembly
line. By all accounts, the Ford Building, with its
gigantic globe highlighting Ford's operations around the
world, was the most popular corporate attraction at the
1934 fair.

Highlights

One of the highlights of the Fair was the arrival of
the German airship Graf Zeppelin on October 26,
1933. After circling Lake Michigan near the exposition
for two hours, Commander Hugo Eckener landed the 776-foot
airship at the nearby Curtiss-Wright Airport in Glenview.
It remained on the ground for twenty-five minutes (from 1
to 1:25 pm) then took off ahead of an approaching
weather front, bound for Akron, Ohio.

postal cover carried on the Graf Zeppelin to the
Century of Progress

The "dream cars" which American automobile
manufacturers exhibited at the fair included Cadillac's
V-16 limousine, Lincoln's rear-engined Zephyr, and the
Pierce Silver Arrow. Nash's exhibit had a variation on
the vertical parking garage, in which all the cars were
new Nashes.

One interesting and enduring exhibit was the 1933
Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition that demonstrated modern
home convenience and creative practical new building
materials and techniques with twelve model homes
sponsored by several corporations affiliated with home
decor and construction.

flyer for the Good Houskeeping Stran-Steel House

Marine artist Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein (Hilgos)
painted twelve murals for the Navy's exhibit in the
Federal Building for the fair. The frieze was composed of
twelve murals depicting the influence of sea power on
America, beginning with the settlement of Jamestown,
Virginia in 1607 when sea power first reached America
and carrying through World
War I.

In May 1934, the Union Pacific Railroad exhibited its
first streamlined train, the M-10000, and the Burlington
Route its famous Zephyr which, on May 26, made a
record-breaking dawn-to-dusk run from Denver, Colorado,
to Chicago in 13 hours and 5 minutes. To cap its
record-breaking speed run, the Zephyr arrived
dramatically on-stage at the fair's "Wings of a
Century" transportation pageant.

the Zephyr shortly after its arrival at the
Century of Progress

Of great popular appeal were the Midway, with rides
and attractions, and the Enchanted Island, an area set
aside for children. Youngsters could slide down Magic
Mountain, view a fairy castle, or see a play staged by
the Junior League of Chicago. The Belgian Village, which
many exhibiting countries imitated during the second year
of the fair, replicated a 16th century village, complete
with homes, shops, church, and town hall. The golden
Temple of Jehol was a wonder of 28,000 handcarved pieces
shipped from China and assembled in Chicago. The Sky
Ride, another landmark of A Century of Progress,
transported visitors in enclosed cars 218 feet above the
North Lagoon between two 628-foot steel towers.
Chicago-area history was depicted in re-creations of the
cabin of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first
permanent settler in Chicago, and of Fort
Dearborn.

The hit of the Midway, and in many respects of the
fair itself, proved to be a striptease show featuring Sally
Rand's fan dance in the Streets of Paris concession.
Rand, a local dancer and aspiring movie actress, had a
talent for self-promotion and parody. She originally
intended her show as a spoof on Chicago's high-society
matrons, who insisted on overdressing at a time when many
Americans barely had money to clothe themselves. By
taking it off, she was putting them on. In the process,
she made the Streets of Paris one of the most profitable
concessions at the fair.

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held
at Comiskey Park (home of the Chicago White Sox) in
conjunction with the fair.

Other Information

Not a single dollar of taxpayer money was used to
finance A Century of Progress, an accomplishment not
achieved by any previous world's fair. Early needs were
met from the fees of founder and sustaining members of
the corporation. The citizens of Chicago formed the
World's Fair Legion, and more than a hundred thousand
people paid the $5.00 membership fee. The basis of
financing was an issue of gold notes of ten million
dollars. No contract was let unless there were means with
which to pay for it.

The 1933 Chicago World's Fair was also one of the very
few to make a profit, of about $160,000. That profit
enriched several Chicago museums, including the Museum of
Science and Industry, which also received some of the
exposition's exhibition materials for its permanent
collections, the Art Institute, and the Adler
Planetarium.

The grand total of attendance for the two years was
48,769,227.

The land on which the exposition was held is now
occupied by Miegs Field and McCormick Place.